RESIDENTS in St Ann North Eastern say they are not yet ready to let go of their late Member of Parliament Shahine Robinson, who had served the constituency since 2001.

Robinson, the minister of labour and social security, died on May 29 after a prolonged battle with lung cancer. She was 66.

“She is one in a million… Fi har material weh mek she, done. There’s no more like she. She is the one and only, so nobody can fit inna fi har shoes. All who come will try, but nobody can match up to har. The mould weh mek she, done,” an Exchange resident, who gave her name as Jennifer, told the Jamaica Observer.

She was among scores of residents and supporters who turned up for a public viewing, at St John’s Anglican Church Hall in Ocho Rios last Friday, to pay their respects to the late MP.

Jennifer, otherwise called Chep Chep, recalled that even in the days leading up to her death, Robinson had still pushed to offer assistance to a constituent who was struggling.

“She’s mi mother, mi sister, mi friend, mi everything. I talked to her even when she was on her dying bed. I talked to her like every day. We [send] voice notes [to] each other and she said, ‘Chep Chep, continue to pray for me’. I said, ‘Baby, I always pray for you’,” recounted Jennifer, who broke down in tears.

“God made [her] special… Even when she was dying she was trying to help Isaac. She used her last days thinking to help him, saying, ‘Make sure him get help’,” she continued.

Another constituent, who gave her name as “Mumma Shirley”, heaped praises on the late minister, describing her as her darling.

Mumma Shirley, whose eyes were filled with unshed tears, told the Observer that it will take her some time to accept Robinson’s death.

“I’m so sad, I don’t know when I’ll come back from this. I’m still crying; I love her. She’s my darling; I’ve cried so much about this. I love her, I love her, I love her straight,” she stressed.

A Claremont native, Robinson — the woman who changed the tide of losses for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) with an upset in a People’s National Party (PNP) stronghold — was remembered as a “woman for the people” by Priory resident Herman Gordon.

“She was dependable; the people could call on her. She was always there to support them. Honestly, I don’t see her as a Labourite or a PNP; she supported everybody regardless of who you want to be. I am not going to question the Lord why she gone so soon, because the Lord knows what’s best, but she was a good person. There’s a crown of righteousness waiting for her because I know that the Lord see her work done on this Earth,” Gordon said.

“Miss Robinson has left behind a legacy for us to follow. We should treat people good and deal with people right. I honestly don’t see the person who they gonna send, who gonna come, that can walk in Miss Robinson footstep. I don’t believe that person is born as yet,” he added.

Robinson was one of two JLP candidates to ever represent St Ann North Eastern in Parliament. The other was Bobby Marsh, who defeated the PNP’s Vinroy Brown in the 1980 General Election.

She solidified control over the constituency in the 2002 General Election, only a year after winning the by-election. She gained 11,155 votes to the PNP’s Carol Jackson’s 9,981, and had not lost an election since.

However, it was not an easy battle to hold on to the former PNP stronghold, as she became a naturalised United States citizen in 2006, while sitting in Parliament. She returned her US passport to the Immigration and Naturalization Service office in Key Biscayne, Florida, a year later, ahead of the 2007 General Election, in the belief that this constituted renunciation of her US citizenship.

She went on to defeat the PNP’s Oswest Senior-Smith by 2,022 votes in the 2007 election. However, after that election, Manley Bowen of the PNP, a former Member of Parliament and a registered voter in the constituency, sought a declaration from the Supreme Court that she was not qualified to be elected due to her alleged dual citizenship.

Robinson continued to hold her parliamentary seat until a court removed her in 2010, and ordered that she pay legal costs of $15.3 million to Bowen. She went through with the formal renunciation process and obtained a Certificate of Loss of Nationality in December 2010.

In the process of the legal actions, she was forced to resign from the House of Representatives in December 2010, but returned to the Parliament that same month after defeating PNP challenger Devon Evans in another by-election, and was again sworn in as an MP in January 2011.

She was re-elected in February 2016 when the JLP returned to power and was assigned by Holness to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

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